There is nothing better than seeing a small school from a mid-major conference knocking off some power-conference behemoth come March. Consider Vermont ousting Syracuse from the NCAA Tournament in 2005 – one of the greatest moments in Vermont and America East Conference basketball history.

And it seems every year, a mid-major team (or teams) is right there pulling a ‘Vermont’ and shocking the nation. Why just last year, there were two teams in the Final Four that no one thought had any business being there. In fact, one of those mid-major teams had to play a play-in game to even get to be a part of the 64.

So when mid-major polls come out we get to see who coaches around the country think might be that special team to make a run in March. America East schools are no strangers to both the men’s and women’s CollegeInsider.com mid-major preseason poll.

The UMBC women, the preseason pick to win the America East, find themselves at No. 21 in the women’s poll. But two other squads are receiving votes to crack the top-25. Hartford collected 16 votes and Boston U. garnered four. Those three teams represent the last three squads to win the conference regular season title.

On the men’s side, no team made it into the poll but the two teams that topped the conference preseason poll are both receiving votes. Boston U. grabbed 13 votes and Stony Brook picked up four.

The regular season opens just a week from today on Nov. 11 with a handful of great non-conference contests.

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